Tag: music collection

Not long ago, I was marveling at my hilariously shrimpy CD collection and decided to take it upon myself to revive this very dead section of the site. I’ve got a few items that I thought would be cool to share, both today and in the future. I figured this was also as good a way as any to give my thoughts on newer albums that I liked but didn’t review for one reason or another. Hopefully we can start this section back up with more regular drops, but without further ado, here are the items I felt like sharing.

First up is the Gorilla Box Set, by the late, great Sean Price. After the unfortunate and untimely passing of Sean Price, Duck Down reissued all three of his studio albums (Monkey Barz, Jesus Price Supastar, and Mic Tyson), packaging them together to make this box set. It was released in for both CD and vinyl. As you can see, this is the CD version. It’s got a lenticular cover depicting what seems to be the scene immediately preceding the image you see on the Mic Tyson cover.

Artwork from each album is shown on each of the three side panels of the box, and the back cover shows an illustration of Sean sitting at a campfire. The CDs come in jewel cases, which is something I’m actually sort of relieved about, because from what I’ve seen before CD box sets often use cheap slimline digipacks/cardboard sleeves.

Next up is the CD for Raekwon’s latest album, The Wild. Both Dustin and I were in agreement when we listened to this album on Spotify about how silly the album cover looked. It was like a less kickass rendition of the Mic Tyson cover. However, seeing it in the physical changes things entirely. The illustration seems far clearer and less cluttered in print than it is on a computer screen. Overall the packaging is kept simple. There isn’t even a booklet. It’s just a front flap that opens to the CD. That’s fine for me though, for the most part. I’m a sucker for digipak.

This is probably the best non-Cuban Linx album that Rae has released. Rae managed to create an album where he made boom bap sound radio-ready in the current state of hip hop, which is quite impressive. While most of the songs are nothing out of the ordinary for Raekwon at this point in his career, it’s a very enjoyable album that I think will serve as an easily accessible entry point for newer hip hop fans to use in order to get into his style and catalog.

And lastly, we have the CD for Joey Bada$$’s new album, All-AmeriKKKan Bada$$. On his last album and mixtapes prior to that, Joey established himself as a new school artist who was making gritty boom bap music reminiscent of early Nas, Black Moon, and Smif-N-Wessun. Here, however, he steps out of his comfort zone, using production that is generally jazzier and lighter. He uses this album to express his confusion and, at times, anger, about having to grow up as a young black man in the current climate of America. He seems to come into his own on this album – it is his best release to date, to me.

The CD comes in a sleeve that depicts the American flag made of bandanas. This was the image that he had originally led people to believe was the cover art. It was a cute fakeout, I like the design so I wouldn’t have been mad if it happened. The actual cover is (to my knowledge) an impromptu pose that Joey made on the set of his “Devastated” video. It gives off a sense of carefree recklessness that I think actually betrays the most of the music on the album. I don’t think it fits the overall mood of the album, but the scenery of dirt roads in the middle of nowhere does a good job at portraying Joey as an outlaw, which I assume was the point.

Welcome to the Collectors Corner, a new article series on Extraordinary Nobodies where we will be taking a look at physical media from all sorts of record labels and artists. Most of these will be coming from my own collection, but my (kind of) wonderful co-writer Apu will also be contributing from his assortment of music on occasion. Collectors Corner will be a little more relaxed (and a little less hip-hop focused) than some of our other articles, serving as break from the usual… Mostly for myself, but I’m sure variation in content is healthy, right?

Primarily, I just thought it would be fun to spotlight some of the cool and weird physical releases that constantly pop up in the music scene. We’ll also get the chance to throw in some mini-reviews of albums we otherwise wouldn’t have the time to review… Wow, this is great, right? Right?!

Now, let’s just jump right into the first batch of albums in the collectors corner spotlight:

From Poor Little Music, an underground Canadian label that deals primarily in cassette and floppy disk (yes, you’ve read that right) releases, I picked up Meme Vivaldi’s Smile on tape. The art on the packaging itself is really nice. There’s something about it that I found to be somewhat vaporwave inspired, particularly on the inside of the j-card insert. The cassette itself is a brilliant orange, and features a sticker rather than stamping.

Smile basically sounds like the soundtrack to an artificial intelligence having a mental breakdown. It is an incredibly odd little electronic album, but it’s also a lot of fun. I hadn’t personally heard Smile when I purchased it (yay, impulse buys), but I was pleasantly surprised once I got a chance. The sounds here definitely aren’t for everyone, but those looking for a mind-fuck will probably enjoy it.

Smile is also a limited edition of 30, so if you’re looking to own a cassette you may want to get on that soon. Hell, they could already be sold out by the time you read this. Sorry.

From SubPop Records and Deathbomb Arc, I also picked up the cassette version of clipping.’s Splendor & Misery. There were a few different physical media options for this album, but ultimately I ended up going with the cassette because the packaging is gorgeous. The cassette itself is wonderfully industrial looking, coming coloured in a clean light gray.

The insert has a very classy foil look to it, complimented by a retro feel to the rest of the packaging. This is very honestly one of the nicest looking cassette releases I’ve seen this year and I would fully recommend it to anyone looking to add to their collection. Plus, something about listening to glitched-out experimental hip-hop on cassette just feels right… And that is the most pretentious sentence I will ever write in my life.

Third is Offsite & Wontu’s collaborative effort After Shenron. This album comes via Every Dejavu. The packaging on this tape is a really an aesthetic treat. From the incredible blue colour on the casing itself, to the beautiful album art. It looks great in my collection, but more importantly it is also a wonderful little project musically.

The production and rapping, are a very chill alternative brand that fans of rappers such as Open Mike Eagle and milo will certainly enjoy. After Shenron is short, but it feels like it packs enough content to sink your teeth into.